Picture Graphs

A graph is a pictorial representation of data. In Primary 1, pupils have learnt picture graphs based on one-to-one representation (i.e. using a symbol to represent 1 object).

In Primary 2, pupils learn to read, interpret and draw picture graphs with scales, with each symbol could represent more than 2 objects.

Pupils are lead  to see the need for using a scale when the numbers are large. Pupils are also exposed in both horizontal and vertical forms of picture graphs.

The data presented in the graphs should be related to students‟ experiences and interests, e.g. their favourite flavor of ice cream, favourite sport etc.

There will not be any use of incomplete symbol / picture at their level.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

 *Make picture graphs with scales

*Read and interpret picture graphs with scales

 *Solve problems using information presented in picture graphs

Volume

What is volume?

Volume  of an object refers to the amount of space it occupies.  In Primary 2,

students learn that the volume of water/liquid refers to the amount of water/liquid occupying the

space in the container.

The capacity of a container, the amount of substance it can hold, will be introduced in Primary 3.

Students also learn to measure and compare volumes or amounts of liquid using one of the

following methods:

*By pouring the amounts into identical containers and comparing their heights,

 *By pouring each amount into small and identical containers and counting the number

of units (the amount in each small container is a non-standard unit),

*By measuring the amount of liquid using a standard unit such as the Litre.

Notes:

*Students have not learnt decimals therefore use the terms more than or less than 1 litre when explaining or comparing volumes of liquid to students.

*Volume of solid will be taught in Primary 5.

That's all for now. :)

Time

Notes

 

1.   Hour hand -shorter hand

      Minute hand - longer hand

  

2.   Reading the hour hand can be a problem for students   especially when it is pointing between two numbers. It is a good habit for them to draw a line, extending the hour hand. This enables them to see clearly.

In addition, they can take also take note of the minute hand. As long as the minute hand hasn't point to the number 12, the hour hand refers to the earlier of the two numbers.

For example, in this case the arrow is pointing between 2 and 3. From the red line, it is clear that the hour hand hasn't reached 3. Therefore, it cannot be 3 O' clock but 2.55 in this case.

3. It is important for students to know where to draw the hour hand. It depends heavily on where the minute hand is pointing to. Therefore, where one draws the hour hand,  is important as it represents the movement of a clock.

(Observe the hour hand in each picture)

 

 

 

 

If the minute hand is between 1 - 4 ( 5- 20 minutes), then the hour hand should be drawn slightly after 11.

 

 

 

If the minute hand is between 4 - 8 (25-40 minutes), then the hour hand can be approximately in the middle, between 11.00 and 12.00.

 

 

 

 

If the minute hand is between 9-11 (45-55 minutes), then the hour hand should be drawn nearer to 12.00.

 

 

4.  A.M and P.M stand for Ante Meridian and Post Meridian respectively. They are latin words which mean "before midday" and "after midday".

The terms 12 a.m and 12 p.m may cause confusion and should not be used. Therefore, it is advisable to use the terms 12 noon and 12 midnight.

Learning Outcomes
-tell and write time to 5 minutes ( in terms of the minute hand, every 5 minutes)

-Use a.m and p.m to differentiate between morning, afternoon and evening

-Use abbreviations h and min

-Draw hands on the clock face to show time

-derive the duration of one hour/half hour from an o'clock face.


That's all! Thank you :)

 

 

Feedback on Fractions

1) Identifying whether a fraction or a part is required.

Some students have difficulty identifying what the question wants, whether a part or a fraction. For example, if the question has a statement like" ____________of the figure is shaded." , this requires pupils to write a fraction; meaning there should be a numerator and denominator.

However, for questions which require a number for an answer, the questions will have the word pieces/parts in them for example
" ________ parts of the figure is shaded?"
(Refer to examples below)

Pupils wrote the numbers instead of fractions.











 














2) Unit Fractions

Unit fractions are fractions with 1 as their numerators. For example one- fifth, one quarter, one - half.

When comparing unit fractions, students can use this statement to guide them. "The larger the denominator,the smaller the unit fraction." Another translation will be "the more people sharing a cake, the smaller the portion each person will receive."

(taken from http://www.freewebs.com/workstattion/MATH/fractions/activities.htm)

From the figure above, one can see that the larger the denominator,

the smaller the portion of one unit is

3) Fractions that make a whole

From the example given (refer to picture below), the student is unable to see that 1 whole is actually the full fraction, in this case, 4/4. In order to get the fraction for the whole, one can retrieve the information by looking at the denominator of the other fraction given.

Therefore, the answer should be 1/4 and 3/4 make 1 whole (4/4).

 That's all!

Racial Harmony Day 2012!

Dear Parents,

Today is 21 July 2012, Racial Harmony Day.  It commemorates the anniversary of the communal riot that occurred in 21 July 1964. The children celebrated it in school yesterday. They were encouraged to wear their traditional costumes.

This year, the  children learnt about the chinese culture, particularly the Chinese Opera. It is a popular form of musical drama in the chinese culture. Masks are used to portray a character’s role.They were shown a variety examples of masks. Each main colour has its own meaning.

White: Sinister, evil, crafty, treacherous, and suspicious.

Green: Impulsive and violent

Red: Brave and loyal.

Black: Rough, fierce or bold character.

Yellow: Ambitious, fierce, cool-headed.

Blue: Fierceness, loyal and clever.

During social studies lesson, the students made the masks. 

As you can see from the picture, the students made a point not to use white colour on the masks as it represents bad character. There is one mask though, which looked as if white was used but the child stood on his ground claiming that it's light blue. J

Happy Racial Harmony Day everyone!

Fractions

Dear Parents,

For your reference.

The concept of fractions provide the children with opportunities to make sense and relate to the language and notation of fractions using everyday examples such as pizzas or birthday cakes that are round and chocolate bars that are rectangular.

Similarly, fractions doesn’t apply on round/ rectangular objects only, they apply generally to various types of shapes, including triangles.

Fractions are numbers; which tell us how much of a whole it represents.

For example; when a whole is divided into 2 equal parts, 1 out of 2 equal parts is represented as 1/2.

The total number of equal parts is called a whole and known as a denominator as for the number of the items cut/shaded/taken is known as a numerator.

Learning Outcomes:

·         Interpret a fraction in terms of equal parts of a whole

·         Read and write fractions

·         Compare and order

-unit fractions (same numerator eg 1/2, 1/3)

-like fractions ( same denominator eg 2/5, 4/5)

·         Add and subtract like fractions within one whole

*Students are not required to learn fraction as part of a set of objects (eg  of 20) as this will be dealt with in Primary 4.

Thank you

Money

Dear Parents

For your reference.

Learning objectives:

• counting the amount of money in a given set of notes and coins
• reading and writing money in decimal notation
• comparing 2 or 3 amounts of money
• converting an amount of money in decimal notation to cents only and vice versa
• solving word problems involving money in dollars only (or in cents only)

Preparation for this topic goes back to the early part of the year. Click HERE to read more about it.

Some Important Notes

1) We read $15 as 'fifteen dollars' but some children may write it as '15$'. Children need to be mindful of the difference in speech and writing.

2) When counting money, we count from the highest to the lowest denominations.

3) Some pupils have the misconceptions that the set with more  coins has a greater amount of money. Some students may relate the size of a coin with its value, thus perceiving, for example, a 50-cent coin as having a higher value than a 1-dollar coin.

4) Students have not learnt the concept of decimals, so the decimal point is

regarded as a point separating the cents from the dollars, and the two digits after the decimal point denote the number of cents.

5) Point out that to change dollars to cents, just remove the “$” sign and

the dot. Remind students to put a dot after the dollars to separate the

dollars from the cents. Point out that they are not to use both “$” and “¢” together.